Always and Forever
by Bryher
Summary: Always and forever, Sir Knight. But it better be bloody forever.' GawainOC Oneshot.


Title; Always and Forever

Summary; The head cannot deny the heart.

Rating; T

Author's Notes; Sloppy smooshy stuff. In the middle of my A Level exams, so I'm a bit funny in the head at the moment.

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The last of the sunshine shimmered in glittering waves over the dusty road, the hot, dry air giving little in the way of relief. No breeze stirred the trees on the hill, no soft sigh of air drifted across the burnt and hot skin that many at the fort had acquired over the last few days. Ylenia sat outside the fortress gate, leaning on the hot stone with her eyes closed, listening to the dull, musical humming the grasshoppers set up. It was unbearably hot.

A deep sigh pulled the sweaty hemp dress over her itchy ribs, and with a small groan the young woman leant forward and pulled her long, dark curls over one thin shoulder, wafting air on the back of her neck in an attempt at relieving the ever-present heat. Resting her forehead on her knees, Ylenia closed her eyes and breathed in the dry air. She couldn't remember heat like this before. Although all of her four and twenty winters had been spent in Britain, the summer had not been as endlessly hot; the winters were cold and unforgiving; the autumn and spring rain had turned roads to mud and the air to damp, but this heat had never been known before. The priest at the fort had said that it was God's punishment for living in sin. Ylenia smothered a doubtful snort. The priest was a strange, frightening man. She'd heard stories about serving girls who went to his quarters with food and drink, and returned with pale faces and rumpled clothes. None of them would ever say what had been done to them, though it didn't take much imagination to guess. Ylenia kept away, preferring to help in the stables or in the tavern. She wouldn't go near the priest if she could help it.

Quite suddenly, there was a quiet shuffle in the grass beside her. Looking up, Ylenia met the eyes of Gawain, whose tangled, feral hair was this day tied at the back of his neck. He grinned easily at her and settled down with his back against the wall. Ylenia nodded to him and leant back, wincing slightly as her back scraped against the rough stone.

'This heat is a bad omen,' Gawain said after a moment, his voice low and resonant in the still air. Ylenia couldn't hold back her snort this time. 'You sound like the priest,' she replied, tilting her head back to stare upwards at the top of the wall. Gawain huffed slightly under his breath, picking a blade of grass between two fingers and flicking it at her. Ylenia curled her fingers in the grass, tearing up a small chunk, and promptly dropped it on Gawain's head. He laughed, dropping his head forwards and giving it a dog-like shake. Ylenia smiled and shook her head, leaning back against the wall again. As silence crept up between them, Ylenia felt the air change. Tension thrummed like the sound of a sword through air, building and building and building.

'Can we talk about…?'

'No,' Ylenia said softly, clenching her hands in the grass, keeping her gaze forward. Gawain sighed, placing one large hand over hers, the small warm fingers balled up under his own calloused palm. 'Gawain.'

'Ylenia?'

'You know we can't.'

'Why not?' Gawain whispered, grip tightening ever so slightly. Ylenia bit back a sharp retort and instead tried to move her hand away. The pressure increased until her hand lay flat against the grass, Gawain's larger fingers trapping her own to the hot earth. 'We have to talk,' he said softly, thumb rubbing against her own soothingly. 'I can't not see you.'

'I… Gawain-'

'No,' he said quickly, shifting until he knelt beside her, her hand now held in his, the large brown digits gently gripping her fingers, delicately holding her captive. 'Ylenia, you will listen to me.'

Temper flared up in her chest. She could not listen; not when there was no chance of them being together. He was a knight. She was a serving girl.

'I will not wait for the day that your horse comes back riderless,' she cried, trying to pull her hand away with more vigour. 'Do not ask me to love you and watch you wear yourself thin! To watch the earth covering your wrappings,'

Releasing her hand, Gawain lifted his hands to the sides of her face, angling her lips until they pressed just so against his own. His mouth was warm and gentle against her own, soothing the fear and hurt away with small, careful kisses. Ylenia turned her head away after a moment. Gawain held her shoulders tightly, as though afraid she would try to run; a thought that was not far from her mind. 'I thought you said you wanted to talk,' she said quietly, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. Gawain grinned. Taking her hand, he pulled her up, entwining his fingers in her own. 'Walk with me?'

'How could I refuse, Sir Knight?' Gawain pulled a face and led her onto the road. Small clouds of dust mushroomed in their wake as the sunset burned a fiery trail across the sky.

'Stay with me?'

Ylenia looked up at him. Her cool grey eyes examined him critically. She leant forward, stretching up onto her tip toes to reach his ear. Gawain slipped an arm around her waist lest she fall.

'Always and forever, Sir Knight. But it better be bloody forever.'


End file.
